Ice Hotel
by Lady GreyWolf
Summary: 12 Days of FanFic Christmas #5! The Doctor takes Clara to one of the places she has always wanted to visit; the Ice Hotel. !WHOUFFLE!


**12 Days of FanFic Christmas #5! My holiday started today, guys; that means I'll have more time to write and might be able to write some longer stories as well :) For today I hope you'll be happy with some sweet Whouffle.**

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><p>She would never tire of that sound; the wheezing, groaning sound that signalled the arrival of a certain blue box in her living room. Just like at any other time she dropped whatever she was doing and rushed from the kitchen to where the box now stood, grinning.<p>

"Come to relieve me of another boring day, Doctor?" she asked as she approached. When she was almost at the door it opened inwards and the man she had addressed poked his head out, his eyes gleaming and his lips tilted upwards in a small grin.

"What else would I do?" he asked, then stepped aside to let her in. She skipped down the walkway towards the console.

"So", she asked and spun around towards him, "where are we going this time?"

The Doctor's grin widened as he closed the door and walked up to her, grabbing onto the controls.

"That, Clara", he said and used his free hand to bop her on the nose, "is a surprise."

Clara Oswald grabbed onto the console as the Doctor made the TARDIS, the blue box, dematerialize from her living room, flying through time and space.

"I've put out clothes for you", the Doctor said. "Well, I had someone help me pick them out, but they're on your bed."

Clara looked at him curiously and smiled.

"So we're going somewhere where I need to wear something other than this?" she asked and looked down at her outfit of today. Blue blouse, plaid skirt and thick leggings. The Doctor looked at her, his gaze raking up and down her body, before he cleared his throat and looked away. Clara smirked.

"Well, it does look good", the Doctor replied, "but I think the clothes I've put out are more appropriate for the place we're going to."

"Alright", Clara said. "I'll see you soon, then."

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><p>The Doctor adjusted his bowtie, again, before putting on his regular burgundy cashmere coat on top of his shirt and waistcoat. The TARDIS had landed at their destination – he had even triple-checked that they were indeed in the right place at the right time – and now all that was missing was Clara. His Clara.<p>

He did not know when he had started thinking of her like that, as if she belonged to him, but it did not feel wrong to think like that. In fact it felt perfectly right.

"Is this alright, Doctor?"

He spun around to face Clara as she walked up the walkway leading from the corridor, which in turn lead to her bedroom. She wore a long red dress that fitted her perfectly, adorned with sequins that sparkled in the soft light of the console room. To this she also wore a thick black scarf draped over her shoulders. Her brown hair was up in a ponytail at the back of her head and she had even noticed the ruby earrings he had left on her nightstand.

"Perfect", the Doctor said, feeling himself grin from ear to ear. He then stepped forward and offered her his arm.

"Shall we?"

Clara giggled with excitement and took his arm, allowing him to lead her out through the door and into the landscape beyond. It was covered in glittering white snow, illuminated by the thousands upon thousands of stars shining above their heads and lights placed out around a set of buildings nearby. The Doctor grinned as he heard Clara gasp in surprise.

"Doctor", she said, "is this..."

"Yep", the Doctor said, gesturing with his free hand towards the building below the hill they had landed upon. "The Ice Hotel. Don't worry; I've got warmer clothes prepared for us as well, but first we're going to have dinner."

He led her down the hill, past the ice building where they would later be staying and headed towards the restaurant. A man dressed in a black jacket opened the door for them, frowning slightly at the fact that they were not wearing thicker clothes (it was, after all, a good 25 degrees Celcius below the freezing point), but neither Clara or the Doctor minded him. Instead they entered the restaurant and were showed a table in an isolated corner of the room.

"Doctor, this is incredible", Clara said once the waiter had left them to ponder their options on the menu. "I've always wanted to go here."

"I know", the Doctor replied, "it's one of the places in your book."

Clara's smile widened and the Doctor felt his hearts skip a beat or two at the sight. He loved seeing that particular smile on her face.

"So what's the plan?" Clara asked when they had received their dinner. "Are we actually going to sleep in the Ice Hotel itself?"

"Of course", the Doctor replied. "There's a room ready for us and I've packed everything we might need – and if we don't manage to get through the night the TARDIS is right up the hill so we can always head back there."

"You'll have to drag me back there", Clara remarked. "There's no way I'll back out on a chance of sleeping here."

"I thought as much", the Doctor replied with a grin.

They finished their dinner and their dessert – ice cream served on thick, clear blocks of ice – before the Doctor paid the bill and led them towards the ice building they would be staying in for the night. On the way the Doctor picked up a bag, which he had dropped off at the reception when he visited and booked a room earlier, which contained a warm set of clothes for them, along with sleeping bags. The woman in the reception pointed them towards the bathrooms where they got changed, trading their dinner clothes for thermals, wool jumpers, thick socks, boots, gloves and hats. The receptionist looked them over when they exited.

"Yes, that should do", she said after a while. "Just call if you need any help, alright?"

"Of course", the Doctor replied, then escorted Clara to the room he had picked out before. It was not one of the big designer rooms with carved snow ornaments and artworks – although he had been close to choosing one of those. No, the room he had picked for their stay was simple in comparison, with a vaulted ceiling that glowed with all the colours of the rainbow.

This was a Northern Lights Room.

"Oh my God", Clara breathed as she saw the dancing colours on the ceiling. "Doctor, this is so beautiful."

Before he was able to react she had turned towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck, laughing with delight in his ear. It warmed him more than any sleeping bag or thermal wear possibly could.

"Think you can sleep in here?" the Doctor asked.

"I'm sure I can", Clara replied and walked over to the king size bed, which was built on big ice blocks. She unrolled her sleeping bag and opened it, then turned to look at him.

"Come on, then", she said with a grin, "or are you going to sleep standing up?"

The Doctor had not realized that he had been watching her every move while remaining motionless himself and quickly hurried over to the bed as well. They did not speak as they climbed into their sleeping bags and zipped them up. The Doctor was slightly disappointed in the fact that this meant he could not take her hand and hold it while they looked at the lights above their heads, but Clara's face, aglow with pure joy, made him forget this feeling.

"You've taken me to so many wonderful places, Doctor", she said and turned to look at him instead of the lights, "but this... this has to be one of the most beautiful ones."

"I agree", he said before he could stop himself. "That it's a beautiful place, I mean."

Clara giggled at his little mistake and shuffled closer to him in her bag. He welcomed her, resting his cheek on the top of her head and sighing in contentment.

"Doctor?" Clara said, craning her head to look up at him. "Are you alright?"

"Yes", the Doctor replied. Her face was close to his, he realized. Incredibly close. And it seemed to be getting closer.

The next moment his lips brushed over hers, tasting the remains of the raspberry ice cream. He slid lower on the bed to bring their faces more at level with one another, breaking the kiss as he did, and instantly felt her mouth searching for his again. This time the kiss was not just a brush of lips, but long and exploring. He struggled with the zipper on his sleeping bag and broke the kiss when he realized he could not open it. Clara blinked in surprise at his strange worming around on the bed, before she realized what he was trying to do and burst out laughing.

"It's stuck", the Doctor whined.

"You're not supposed to open it", Clara reminded with a grin. "You need to keep your hands warm."

"I'm a Time Lord; I can adjust my temperature", the Doctor replied. Clara chuckled.

"Doctor", she said, "I'd love to do more than just kiss you as well, but... maybe we should wait, until we're back in the TARDIS? Without sleeping bags and cold temperatures?"

"We could go right away", the Doctor suggested, "or, no; we're going to stay here tonight. This is my gift to you; a night at the Ice Hotel."

Clara smiled and shuffled closer to him again.

"We'll go back in the morning."

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><p><strong>Feel free to review :) Also check out the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi to see how the room they were staying in might have looked like!<strong>


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